Preventing AIDS Is Still the Best Investment

Published: July 18, 1996

To the Editor:

Gabriel Rotello (Op-Ed, July 14) suggests that because of the demanding regimen necessary for successful use of the new drugs for H.I.V. disease, "doctors should also consider whether they want to give this treatment to those who have demonstrated an inability to take medications consistently."

The price of these drugs raises the problem of providing access. Without mechanisms for assuring that third-party payers provide reimbursement, the onus will continue to fall upon state-administered AIDS drug assistance programs already buckling under government cuts.

Thus, Mr. Rotello's proposal could serve as the excuse for erecting a barrier to access. Our focus should be addressing the problems people living with H.I.V.-AIDS face rather than devising mechanisms for exclusion of those "unable" to take their pills.